B.C. health officials to provide live update on 1st presumptive human case of bird flu | Globalnews.ca
B.C.’s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, will hold a live update on Tuesday morning to discuss the detection of the first presumptive positive human case of avian influenza due to the H5 virus acquired in B.C. or Canada.
The update will be broadcast live above at 11:30 a.m.
It was reported over the weekend that a teenager is at B.C. Children’s Hospital with a suspected case of H5 bird flu.
Health officials are assuring the public they are working to figure out how the patient acquired the infection and who else they might have contacted.
The teenager likely caught the virus from a bird or animal, the province said in a statement over the weekend.
Health officials are urging everyone to stay up to date with their vaccines and to practise good hygiene and wash their hands regularly.
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H5 bird flu is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows, with several recent human cases in U.S. dairy and poultry workers.
Human-to-human transmission is rare and there has been no evidence of sustained transmission between humans, according to Health Canada.
It is an airborne virus and cannot be contracted from eating eggs or chicken.
This story will be updated following the live availability at 11:30 a.m.
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